By Patricia Guadalupe
“The pandemic has brought out a lot of inequities,” says Pay Our Interns co-founder Carlos Mark Vera. “Some are hurting more, and we want to help.”
College student Olivia Martínez calls it “a stunning and complete radio silence,” referring to the internships she applied for that disappeared after COVID-19 upended jobs and the economy.
It’s not just paid internships that are scarce, said Martínez, a rising junior at Temple University in Philadelphia.
“Plenty of us would have worked in restaurants and other places for extra money, but those have closed or have cut their hours, and those usual summer opportunities aren’t there right now,” she said.
For many college-age adults like Martínez, the coronavirus pandemic has meant a different kind of “cancel” culture — a lack of paid internships and summer jobs. For many young Latinos and their families, it’s affecting their ability to pay bills and put food on the table.